Texas_Ace's 1987 NA $500 RX7 Build-up thread!
 

Ok, everyone. I have been lurking around here for a month or 2 and finally have an RX7 of my own to share!

This is the full story on getting the car : https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...58#post8324058

Basically I paid $500 for a 1987 RX7 NA bone stock.

Here are pictures when I first got it home:

http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1603.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1604.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1606.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1607.JPG

It looks a little better now with the hood sitting almost flat. The inside was a mess but I have just about got that cleaned up. I am missing some parts in there though and hope I can find them to make it look good again.

So a run down:

The paint is descent with a good wash and wax, only a few chips, the rest is just dirt and fading.

Inside it is very dirty but everything is there and in good condition minus a few missing/broke panels.

In fact the biggest cosmetic problem of the whole car is bumper being dented in and paint peeling.

Now mechanically it looks to be in good shape and was told it ran fine before rats got into the wiring harness (which i already have a new one). So i am going to follow cakes unstoring tips page and get it ready to try this weekend.

The clutch is bad though, would i just need to replace the slave? or the master too? Also, I noticed that there seems to be something wrong with the shifter, it is VERY VERY lose. I have not had time to really look at it but it almost feels like it is either not connected to the trany at all or the tranny has some major problems. Though I was told the tranny was ok.

The car was supposedly left sitting on a FRESH complete rebuild, as in not even driven home from the shop fresh. So it should have totally fresh seals all around, even the apexs. So i am hoping this will help when i try to get it going. I am going to run a compression test and see what it says, hopefully it is good.

So now, Questions.

Anything I should know about replacing the harness? Any tricks? And FSM/wiring manual pages that might help me out there some place?

More picture when I finish cleaning up the inside.

the loose shifter is probably bushings, and the master and slave should be replaced at the same time, one is usually not far behind the other when they go out.

for the wiring harness, Take lots of pics, trace all the wires to the appropriate sensor/location and make note. i have never been able to read diagrams for shit so, I just learned by doing.

All new seals acually means it will probably have shit compression until it breaks in, as well as less power. Usually takes about 1000 miles. The car should be driven conservatively until the comp is up and seals are properly seated in their grooves. Not talking bad, but at that price, bad wiring or not, there probably isn't a fresh rebuild. I do hope it is, its just not likely. Good luck, happy rotoring.

sweet ass deal for 500...lucky bastard J/k

GL with your build

Yeah, I am thinking i should do both the MC and SC, now where should i get those? Junk yard pulls will most likely be in the same shape as mine.

I was afraid you would say that about the wiring. Oh joy, looks like some fun ahead.

As for the seals, i am 99% sure that it really has them. The story of me finding this car is that i was drving past a place called "The Rotary Shop". So i made a quick u-turn and stopped in, while talking the owner says that RX7 is for sale, the guy doesn't want to fix it.

I go look at it and fall in love. The shop owner is the one that did all the work on the car and since it was not his he had no reason to lie about it. He said that he just put all new seals in it, and i think he is right. but i could always be wrong.

And thanks for the heads up on the seals needing to be seated.

Ok, now i have a few more questions after inspeting it a little more:

1: the truck will not latch closed. It just flaps open no matter what. If i slam it real hard i can get 1 latch to catch but not both. This common? any ideas on how to fix it?

2: The carpets, while in pretty good shape and REALLY dirty from all the junk that was in the car and have some oil on them (he carried oil around, which i hear is a good sign). What i want to know is i am thinking of pully all of the carpet and cleaning it real good. But are the clips that hold it down easy to remove or do they always break? Can i get new ones anyplace?


I am sure i will have more but for now that is the biggest problems.

Thanks for the help!

the hydraulics can be gotten through NAPA (mine went out last night) but the guy said they would have to order it, I got lucky and they had one. Blackdragonauto.com is awesome. Good deal man, i only skimmed your orig post so i didn't know the whole story, congrats on the find. hmmm what else... oh, the carpet clips like to break, and FYI, the dash has to be pulled (or at least raised if you can get in there) in order to remove carpet. I know it sucks.

p.s. I like your stupidity sig. Strange that the opposite seems to be true. I feel that the morons are the most prolithic procreators... (enter theme from Idiocracy)

any general auto parts place can order rebuilt MC and SC's. J

The wiring diagrams actually really arent that hard, Mazda didnt make the car intentionally hard to work on (that would be akin to shooting themselves in the foot). If you're doing it from scratch, you need to be methodical about it, but it isnt difficult. However, just patching the wiring is easy, just match colors up. I recommend that for the best connections and long wire life that you slide on a piece of heat-shrink (longer than the crimp connector and exposed wire), crimp the two ends together, then solder, then slide the heat shrink over the connection and heat it up. Some people recommend using dielectric grease too, but it seems to be a bit overkill for connecting two wires that are already protected from the outside with their sheaths and the heat-shrink tube.

As for the trunk, you should be able to get to the latch, loosen the bolts for the latch and slide it upwards a little to engage with the catch on the hatch. You may also be able to space the catch downwards with some washers, but I'm not positive on this, only having a 'vert myself.

Best of luck with her!

Thanks for the info, i will look at pep boys after i get it running and see what i can find.

Though i did find soemthign interesting about the SC. The guy at the Rotary shop had started taking the car apart in preperation of a new wiring harness, so there are a LOT of things that are not connect (i will need expert eyes on pictures to catch anything i miss BTW). And i noticed that the hose coming out of the top of the SC go to where it apperas to connect to something but there is nothing there, it just dead-ends.

My thinks this might be my problem, but what should it connect to???


Any links to some wiring diagrams? that would be GREAT as a refernce!

I will try that with the trunk, that sounds like it could work.

Here is what i have so far, i am about to start feeding the new harness along and taking the old one out as i do that:

http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1650.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1655.JPG

Anything someone sees that i sould know?


Thanks again everyone!

your missing the intake duct.

You probably realized/said this, but you need an alternator.

LOL, i took both of those off to make getting to the harness easier. I have both of them laying in the trunk.

It is the smaller things that have me worried.

I finally got the old harness out of the inside of the car and found that i actually have 2 ECU's in there, apperantly he was trying anoyther one before changing the harness and forgot it in there...go figure.

I do want to ask, i am just about to start routing the new harness and putting everything back together. Is there anything i should do while i have it all apart? anything that would be made easier?

I know I am finding a lot of things i don't reconize under there.

Ok, so i am changing out the engine harness and while i am at it i come across this:

http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1658.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1660.JPG

It looks to be a temp sender. but it is not on the harness that i am replacing, is there another harness that would be on? if so, great, looks like i get to have some more fun and take the whole intake off to get to it.

Any ideas? suggestions?

And if i have to change out the other harness, and take the intake and all that stuff off anyways, what else should i do while i am in there?

I heard something about a fuel something that leaks and needs to be replaced? where is that and where do i get the parts to fix it? anything else i could do while i have the top of the engine off?

Yea, thats the coolant sensor that the ECU uses for enrichments etc, it's located below where the alternator would sit, in the water pump before the thermostat. (For clarification there is a different sensor on the rear iron right near the oil filter/oil pressure sensor that provides the signal to the coolant gauge, a third in some cars in the lower drivers side of the radiator and sometimes a fourth in the thermostat neck that are various thermal switches.

http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/cars/rx7/88_manual.htm You can find all the wiring diagrams and other factory service manuals there, which will help a lot.

The fuel pulsation dampener will leak sometimes when it gets old, its a plastic mushroom-looking thing sprouting from the end of one of the fuel rails. It never hurts to replace it, since after 20 years they will leak and can cause engine fires. You can either replace it with a new unit or a banjo bolt of the same thread/pitch, there are people who will argue both ways as for which you should do (i havent had any problems with just using the banjo bolt, FWIW)

That sensor looks like the thermosensor for the ECU...it tells the computer what your water temp is.
The soft hose from the slave cylinder connects to the hard line at the l-bracket on the firewall...just below the large silver AC line. I can see it in your picture, so it's there.
The pulsation damper (the "fuel something") is part of the fuel rail...you'll know if it's leaking when you get heavy fuel leaks/smell after you get the car running.

There are a billion things you could do to the engine but I'd just get her started and see what has to be done first.
When (or, to be pessimistic, IF) that happens, you can go from there.

Be very careful working around that area...there are lots of vacuum hoses that are probably nice and crispy (one of the things you'll probably end up dealing with eventually) and you don't want to disturb them.

well i have been reading alot of this and good luck with the rebuild

Thanks for the link!

As for the other coolent sensor, i have looked everywhere and can't find it. here are some high-res pictures, can you see it? or point out where it should be?

http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1661.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1663.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1664.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1665.JPG
http://www.pballandmore.com/images/100_1666.JPG



Also, do you have a link on this "banjo mod"?

Actually the SC looks to be missing altogether, look at those pictures i posted, 1 shows what i am tlaking about, the PO said something about the SC, but i thought he said it was bad, not missing.

Isn't waiting to smeel fuel a little late? isn't that fire time? While i am in there if it is only a few bucks i might as well fix it.

As for things to do while i am in there, i am pretty much interested in anything under the intake/that is easier with out the intake on. Seeing as that is turing into a pain to get off, anything under there i can change/fix for cheap and would be good?

You say that because you think i will need it? lol

Well, if you have the upper intake off, you may as well clean up the grounds too.

Just search for "banjo bolt" or "pulsation dampener" in the 2nd gen section to find out about that "mod".

Also, it would probably really help you to read the FAQ and whatnot, may answer quite a few questions before you ask them.

If your coolant temp and oil pressure sensor are both working, then there really isnt a need to play with the sensors, but here they are anyway
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1214622142

I actually have read all the FAQ's already, first thing i did when i signed up.

Thanks for the help.

I do have to wounder what happened to the car at some point though, when i pulled off the intake i was able to see more of the harness and it was REALLY burnt. either a REAL bad short or they got dang hot.

When these things catch fire where is it? there is also some black on the bottom of the hood that might have been a small fire. It could not have been too big though and the plastic of the intake and all the other piece are fine, just right under/around the front of the intake.

Yea, it did look pretty burnt in the pictures. Your car may have already had a PD problem or something, since just the top of the engine doesnt get that hot. I guess it could have just been a bad short that lit stuff up, but it looks quite burnt.

Have fun spending the next three years of your life and the better part of your income restoring your car... :D

After that, then you get to start with the upgrading.

I'm not advocating that you ignore potential problems- like the pulsation damper- but it does seem weird to focus on them right now.

Right now you own the proverbial "pig in a poke"...a car that you've never heard start, much less driven.
If you're absolutely certain that you'll follow through and get this car running- no matter what it takes- then go ahead and begin a total makeover of the engine bay.
Lord knows, looking at the pictures you have several weekends worth of work that could be done and ultimately, should be done.

BUT...what happens if she starts and you discover that the transmission is crap, the rear end clunks, suspension is finished and/or the electrics are even worse than is now apparent?
What if you just don't like the car?

Once it runs you can make a list, prioritize your budget and get to work.
Sooner or later you'll get to the pulsation damper.

OK, that's just weird...

MOD, PLEASE DELETE THE POST 2 ABOVE ME! I AM AT WORK AND CAN"T HAVE THIS IN MY OWN THREAD MUCH LESS ANYWHERE ELSE! Thank you! You can then edit this part of my post out if you want.


Yeah, it was burnt before i took it off, but looked like it was just a short in that one area.

When i took the intake off though i can see where the rest of the harness under there is burnt to a crisp. The good news is that it looks like the new harness with replace all the real damaged parts and the only thing i am worried about are the injectors, anyone know how to test them befire i put the intake back on?

LOL, well if it turns into that big of a hassel i plan to sell it and take my profit and move on to the next deal.

I actually totally agree, I am not talking about expensive things, those little $5 and $10 parts that go out on every car but make a world of differnce. I plan to just do a full tune up and then try to get it running. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks to do things that i would have to take the intake off again.

I am a guy that REALLY hates doing something twice if i dont have too. Just the way i am.

Ok, so i got back out there today to finish the wiring and everything is fine until i get to the injectors.

I am now 100% positive they had a small fire due to the PD. The primariy injectros are burnt to a crisp. and i looked at the bottom of the intake and it has a light black coating like a fire. The connectors are melted together. i am pretty much positive they don't work, and even if they did i highly doubt i could connect the conntor to them.

SO, i have a question. I looked in the FAQ and for the 87 it says that i have 460cc injectors. does that mean all 4 are 460cc? or just the pri? or sec?

What iam wanting to know, is can i put the secandary injectors in the priary spots. Since the secondarys are not needed until above 3800 rpm from what i have read i sould in theroy be able to switch them and try to start it before i buy new ones.

Then just put the bad ones where the secondaries usually go just to plug the fule line.

Am i right?

Also, now that i know what went wrong with it, anyone ever delt with a case like this before? anything else i should look at? the fire was not that big, i know that just because of the very limited range of burnt things, pretty much under the intake everything is burnt and the stuff right in front of it. Otherwise i can't see any burn marks/melted anything.

So the whole "rats gnawed through the wiring" story was just BS, eh?